Flashback: Ethical discussion in Isola Utopia

Other projects

It's tough trying to make a living as an artist, so I am also working on other things such as teaching English, editing texts and transcriptions. You can see the services offered on my new website: The English Assistant. 

One of the projects that I have been collaborating with all year is The Conditions of Chinese Architecture, by TCA Think Tank. It also formed part the exhibition: La Biennale di Venezia Fundamentals. I worked as a transcriber and copyeditor. Some of the articles have also been published on Archdaily. It is a project that is always growing and the research is really interesting. 

Costume for Gioco dell'Oca

Photographs by Leonardo Chiappini

With Cherimus at MAXXI

Cherimus did a beautiful rendition of Marco Colombaioni's Gioco dell'Oca at MAXXI. Marco was one of the founders of Cherimus but passed away in 2011. He remains a strong influence in what Cherimus stands for and his projects are still being continued.  The original version was realised in 2009 in a small Sardinian town, Valledoria. A painted game invited the public to play and participate.

This game is an old board game that translates directly as Game of the Goose, but it's rules and objective are similar to Snakes and Ladders. We did a painted version in 2011 at GAMEC in Bergamo, and this year we were invited to present it at MAXXI -  MUSEO NAZIONALE DELLE ARTI DEL XXI SECOLO in Rome. This version was interactive and performative, and involved workshops where participants actively invented and created the animals. They also invited various artists, me included, to send an animal costume. The public was invited to play every afternoon from the 29-31 October 2014. Here are some photographs of the event, and you can see more on the Cherimus website. Photographs by Leonardo Chiappini.

The Precarious Life

I have started a new Tumblr that follows a precarious life, documenting subjects such as gentrification, inequality and other things that either lead to a precarious life and the growing gap between rich and poor.  It has some of my little illustrations and instagram thoughts. 

Happy Haloween

One of my favourite subjects to draw: Toulouse the best dog ever!

Cherimus: Gioco dell'oca at MAXXI Rome.

Some animals in play on the first day of the game.  

Photo: Allesandra Casadei

The first Gioco dell'oca by Marco Colombaioni was realised in 2009 in a small Sardinian town, Valledoria. A painted game invited the public to play and participate. This work is being interpreted by Cherimus at MAXXI Rome as part of the program Open Museum Open City | Esercizi di Rivoluzione curated by Hu Hanrou. In this version the animals are brought to live as costumes constructed by various artists and workshop participants. 

Here is the press release: 

29, 30, 31 ottobre
Cherimus Sardegna vi invita a giocare
al MAXXI - MUSEO NAZIONALE DELLE ARTI DEL XXI SECOLO

COME AND PLAY!

PARTICIPANTS CAN ENJOY FREE ENTRANCE!

Cherimus
Il Gioco dell’Oca di Macro Colombaioni, 2009 – 2014

Wednesday 29, Thursday 30 October 2014; h 4.00 p.m.
Friday 31 October 2014; h 4.00; 7.30 p.m.

A variant of the classic Snakes and Ladders game, with 63 squares which symbolically retrace the stages of human life. Markers are the players themselves, as they move across a living board consisting of characters who represent animals: a jungle with which, along their way, they relate to the final square.

ENROLL BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO info@nomasfoundation.com INDICATING THE GAME AND THE DAY WHICH YOU PREFER TO ENJOY

The Vertical Jungle; Salon Orizzonti Occupati - Vienna Secession

Here are some details and a close-up of my drawing that was in exhibition during Isola Art Center's salon in Utopian Pulse – Flares in the Darkroom. The drawing is part of a series of drawings and a story I wrote all under the title The Vertical Jungle. The prototype of the storybook have been in several exhibitions with Isola Art Center such as the exhibition 1:1 at MSUM in  Ljubljana. The book is being revised and improved, so more about that in the future.

(The photographs are not exactly the best, if anyone has some tips on how to photograph big drawings).

Utopian Pulse – Flares in the Darkroom

Here are some photographs from our show  Occupied Horizons at the Vienna Secession that ran from 23 -30 September. It was part of the project Utopian Pulse –Flares in the Darkroom curated by  Ines Doujak and Oliver Ressler. In typical Isola Art Center style it functioned like a work in progress and grew as the week went on.  A lot more happened then what is shown here, see Isola Art Center's website and Facebook.

  A shot from Camila Topuntoli's  Isola Utopia Rising shot at the Secession that week. 

 Angelo Castucci, Isola Utopia, videostill with Isola Utopia-font, 2014

View of the first exhibition space

 Valentina Montisci and Kristina Borg painting Zanny Begg's Monument to the III International. Next to it the video by Ines Doujak and on the other side  Isola Sun Cloud by Nikola Uzunovski.

A viewer in front of my work The Vertical Jungle.

working on the piece "Petition to Pope Francis for the Final Abolition of Hell" by Etcetera.

Edith working on her work The time of Anarchy, or the Time of Harmony?

Daniele Rossi printing the posters.

The Secession with Bert Theis's banner on the façade. 

Camilla Topuntoli Rabbit.

Next up: Utopian Pulse – Flares in the Darkroom

A research project by Ines Doujak and Oliver Ressler divided in 7 Salons

in collaboration with a group of 7 artist-curators

September 11–November 2, 2014

Salon Orizzonti Occupati/Occupied Horizons

curated by Bert Theis

September 24-30, 2014, opening Wednesday, September 24 at 19:00

Secession Friedrichstraße 12,
A-1010 Vienna, Austria

Isola Utopia - Fragments and Moments for New Utopias with Airfield Aerosuperficie del Sole, Amor Vacui Studio, Luca Andreolli, Aufo, Zanny Begg, Roberto Balletti and Claudio Tancetti, Emanuel Balbinot, Kristina Borg, Antonio Brizzioli, Tania Bruguera, Angelo Castucci, Antonio Cipriani, Francesco Citro, Cooperativa Nuovo Cilento, Comune di San Mauro Cilento, Ines Doujak, Nicola Ferrara, Fornace Falcone, Naima Faraò, Maddalena Fragnito, Igor Francia, Edna Gee, Mariam Ghani, Ghelostudio Architettura, Grupo Etcétera, Heinz-Norbert Jocks, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Isabell Lorey, Gianfranco Marelli, Valentina Montisci, Denis C. Novello, Walter Novello, Philippe Nathan/2001, Nikolay Oleynikov, Creative Olive, Maria Papadimitriou, Dan Perjovschi, Edith Poirier, Vincenzo Onida, Steve Piccolo, Project 2.0., Gerald Raunig, Oliver Ressler & Dario Azzellini, Daniele Rossi, Gak Sato, Mariette Schiltz, Christoph Schäfer, Milena Steinmetzer, Superstudio, Camilla Topuntoli, Transdizipinäres Planungsteam Milliardenstadt, Nikola Uzunowski, Flora Vannini, Jiang Zhi and others.

Info:

http://www.isolartcenter.org/index_eng.php?p=1131987191&i=1132933796&z=1410438107

www.facebook.com/events/466230710186647/

www.secession.at

Coming soon: Isola Utopia

End of next week I will be heading south to San Mauro Cilento, (Salerno, Italy) with Isola Art Center. We have been invited by Creative Olive a local association to construct a sort of in progress workshop there. Many things will happen. It also serve as part of an ongoing series of our current discussion on Utopia also in Riga and in September in Vienna.  There will be some interesting people and great artists involved.  The official exhibition will be from 5 - August. 

Some things

An old map of Trento in exhibition at MART in Rovereto. Great exhibition.

Painted walls in Trento

Drawing: insomnia sucks.

Drawing: I'm fighting some inner monsters.

Drawing: Dreamy mountains

 I babysit to make ends meet. Me and the 7 year old boy I look after made these colourful prints from folded paper boats coloured in with felt pens. 

Isola Art Center at MAXXI, Rome

Photos by  Giulia Cipriani

Isola Pepe Verde in Festa

ONGOING FIGHT-SPECIFIC ISOLA in Venice

A cura di Valeria Mancinelli e Camilla Pin
Con Emanuel Balbinot, Dafne Boggeri, Emanuele Braga, Antonio Brizioli, Tania Bruguera, Angelo Castucci, Walter Donaldson, Naima Faraò, Giuseppe Fanizza, Maddalena Fragnito, Igor Francia, Fuori Dal Vaso, Edna Gee, Isola Art’s Club Band, KINGS, Andrea Kunkl, Valeria Muledda, Denis C. Novello, Walter Novello, Vincenzo Onida, out, Maria Papadimitriou, Dan Perjovschi, Steve Piccolo, Edith Poirier, Rhaze, Daniele Rossi, Gak Sato, Christoph Schäfer, Mariette Schiltz, Mirko Smerdel, Bert Theis, Camilla Topuntoli, Stefano Topuntoli, Flora Vannini, Daniele Vitale (Archivio Politecnico), Wei-Ning Yang.

La mostra presenta la complessità del percorso di Isola Art Center e dei conflitti urbani che hanno segnato il quartiere, una sperimentazione che dagli anni Settanta a oggi è in continuo mutamento e ha trovato il modo di rinnovarsi e rimanere radicata al territorio. Attraverso pubblicazioni, disegni e installazioni verranno narrate le due modalità di azione di Isola Art Center: i contro progetti alla gentrificazione del quartiere e la creazione di immaginari altri realizzati dagli artisti a sostegno della lotta dai primi anni Duemila a oggi. Parte integrante della mostra sarà anche l’esperienza, tuttora in corso, di Isola Pepe Verde che sta realizzando uno spazio verde autogestito, comunitario e dal basso per il quartiere.

Il giorno dell'inaugurazione alle ore 18 verrà presentato il nuovo lavoro CULTURE DON’T GROW ON TREES. Video di Emanuel Balbinot, Angelo Castucci, Edith Poirier, Mariette Schiltz, Bert Theis, Flora Vannini e Wei-Ning Yang. Musica: Walter Donaldson - Testo: Steve Piccolo - Voce: Naima Faraò, Steve Piccolo - Stilofono: Naima Faraò - Basso: Igor Francia - Chitarra: Denis C. Novello - Percussioni: Walter Novello - Fagotto: Vincenzo Onida - Ukulele: Steve Piccolo - Theremin: Gak Sato.

Dalle ore 19:30 alle 21:30, inoltre, sarà presente il laboratorio di produzione serigrafica con stampe di Maddalena Fragnito, Edna Gee, Dan Perjovschi, Camilla Pin, Edith Poirier, Daniele Rossi.
S.a.L.E. Docks

Dorsoduro 265
Punta della Dogana
Venezia
http://www.saledocks.org

Silkscreen workshop * Ongoing Fight-Specific Isola in Venice *

    
      Photograph by Leah Corra Messersmith.